Two Wheel Blogs

Phil and I headed north last evening to meet up with Steve and Jody and about a hundred other cyclists for the Monday night Meuller Park ride. Meuller Park is a soccer park located in the flood plain between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers north of St. Louis. Every Monday cyclists gather there for a 28 mile ride. Several groups go off at various times. The maing fast training group lined up and rolled out last night at 6pm.

Phil and I went with the main group. Phil had ridden something like 100 hard miles in training over the weekend. Had it been me, I might have been riding the couch last night, but there he was, ready to mix it up. Steve and Jody went out on their own. They were there to bolster their endurance training in preparation for the upcoming MS150 ride.

I had heard this was a fast group to ride with. The rumors were right. These guys can hammer. My average speed for the entire 28+ mile ride was a little over 25mph - not bad considering the temperature at ride time was 94°F with a steady 6mph wind.

The ride went about like you'd imagine a fast training ride in the flats would go. It started out somewhat tame to give everyone a chance to settle into a rhythm and find their place in the field. My power analysis from the ride shows only one place in the entire first half of the ride where I had to dig deeply enough to burn a match. Most of my power in the first half of the ride went toward accelerating out of corners and "minding the gap" between my wheel and that of the rider in front.

1st Half:
    Duration:      35:18
    Work:          400 kJ
    TSS:           37.8 (intensity factor 0.802)
    Norm Power:    213
    VI:            1.13
    Distance:      14.126 mi
                    Min   Max    Avg
    Power:           0    845    189  watts
    Heart rate:      0    173    3    bpm
    Cadence:         29   117    96   rpm
    Speed:           2.4  30.6   24.0 mph

The second half is where the real workout began. The pace went up, guys started attacking, and accelerations out of the corners were harder and longer. This was where I got my workout.

2nd Half:
    Duration:      31:54
    Work:          426 kJ
    TSS:           46.5 (intensity factor 0.936)
    Norm Power:    248
    VI:            1.11
    Distance:      14.118 mi
                    Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           0     915    223  watts
    Heart rate:      0     175    7    bpm
    Cadence:         33    131    100  rpm
    Speed:           16.1  31.3   26.6 mph

In all, a fairly decent workout. It was my first time on the ride, so I didn't really know what to expect. Had I known more about where I was I probably would have looked to get myself out in the wind a little more than I did. The entire ride only netted about 85 TSS at 0.873 IF. That qualifies it as a Sweet Spot ride, though the variability's a little higher than I'd like.

Just one quick additional note on the stats: See the Heart Rate numbers? Not mine. Of course I have no idea whose numbers those are. My SRM just picked them up. What's interesting is how high they are. Somewhere out there last night someone was working pretty hard.

To be sure, this is a fun ride. Then again, how can you not have fun riding in a fast pack?